Samir Bhat | NT
Curchorem: Even as online classes are being conducted across the state, students in the rural areas are facing difficulty attending the online sessions due to poor Internet connectivity.
With only one Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) mobile tower in Neturlim, students in the remote and hilly areas of this village in Sanguem taluka are facing hurdles on the road to their online classes. The only tower is insufficient to cater to the needs of the whole village with students from areas like Verlem, Salgini, Nune, Maangal and Savri encountering untold hardships due to the absence of mobile phone network. Risking their lives, some students even walk through a forest and climb a hilltop for their online studies.
As the facility of cable is available in Nune village, some students have availed the Wi-Fi service here thus also benefitting students in the neighbouring areas who attend their online classes in these houses connected by Wi-Fi. As the cable facility is not available in Salgini and Verlem areas, students from these areas are forced to travel to Nune. Some students from Verlem, Salgini, Maangal and Savri are compelled to travel to Neturlim and stay at their relatives’ places to avail the mobile network for their online classes.
When contacted, deputy sarpanch of Neturlim village panchayat Abhijeet Desai admitted the hardships faced by the high school students due to the absence of network, especially in the remote and hilly areas of Verlem, Maangal and Savri villages.
“In Nune, I have provided Wi-Fi connection to some seven students at my own cost. Other students from the nearby areas come to the houses of these seven students to avail of the network and continue with their online classes there. In Neturlim village too, I have provided Wi-Fi connection to some students. Nune has cable connection but other areas don’t have the facility. There is only one BSNL tower in Neturlim,” he said.
The story of students from Salgini village is more pathetic. There are around seven high school students in this village and they walk a distance of about three kilometres and climb a hillock (Kumana Dongor) where they get network from the mobile tower, which has been installed in Canacona.
When contacted, local panchayat member Rajani Gaonkar said nobody will believe the hardships faced by the students of Salgini in order to obtain network connection to attend the online classes. “These students walk through a jungle to the hilltop. Some parents have built a structure, supported by stilts. The students sit in the structure and attend their online classes. They face danger to their lives from wild animals.”
Two students said they are not satisfied with their online studies due to the poor mobile network. “We also face difficulty in procuring material for study, which was easier during the classroom sessions,” they said.
A parent Vithoba Gaonkar and his wife said they are worried about their children’s education and future. “We don’t understand how they will study with the help of a mobile phone and without any teacher,” they wondered.
A survey of some areas has revealed that there is no
uniformity in the daily online periods conducted. Periods range from one period of an hour’s duration to four or more periods of half an hour duration each.
Some sources informed that instructions have been given by the government to teachers that students should not be made to sit before mobile phone screen for more than three hours. In the remote and hilly areas where the students need to climb hilltops or walk long distances to obtain good range, they can hardly attend two to three periods.